St. Thomas 13th in national Directors Cup standings

June 19, 2009

St. Thomas finished 13th out of 435 institutions in the 2008-09 NCAA Division III Directors Cup all-sport standings that were announced Friday.

The Tommies' 702 points were their most ever in the 14-year history of the format. UST has placed in the top 40 in Division III every year of the competition, including six top-16 finishes. St. Thomas finished 12th in 2007-08.

The final scoring was announced by the National Association of Collegiate Athletics Directors (NACDA). The prestigious competition is sponsored by NACDA, Learfield Communications, and USA TODAY, and seeks to recognize the top overall collegiate athletics programs in the country.

Williams (Mass.) took first for the 13th time in 14 seasons with 1,066.5 points. Middlebury (Vt.) had 923, Amherst (Mass.) had 910, Washington (Mo.) scored 873 and Cortland (N.Y.) State tallied 861 to round out the top five. 

Fivr other MIAC institutions finished in the top 80 -- Gustavus placed eighth with 765.0; Carleton took 35th with 377.0; St. John's placed 62nd with 260.5; Bethel was 79th with 220.5; and St. Olaf was 85th with 212.

Nine of the top 17 Division III finishers hail from UST’s region of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri.

Click here to access final 2009 Division III scoring:

http://www.nacda.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/nacda/sports/directorscup/auto_pdf/D3June19

Below, Mike Ekern action photos

UST scores in 13

The Tommies scored in 13 of 22 sports, led by top-five national team finishes in baseball (first), men’s outdoor track and field (third), and men’s basketball (tied for fifth). UST also had top-20 team finishes in women’s cross country (14th), women’s indoor track (12th), men’s indoor track (15th) and women’s golf (17th).

Baseball’s national championship is the second for the program and UST’s fourth team title this decade. The Tommies also won NCAA titles in baseball (2001) and softball (2004, 2005).

St. Thomas now has 24 top-two national team finishes in eight different sports. UST’s 13 national team championships include seven in women’s and men’s cross country; two each in baseball and softball; and one each in women’s basketball and men’s indoor track and field.

In Division III national polls released during 2008-09, St. Thomas had seven teams ranked in the top six at some point -- baseball, men’s basketball, softball, men’s hockey, women's golf, volleyball and men’s track and field. The Tommie women were also ranked in the top 15 in hockey and cross country.

More national highlights

--St. Thomas had six CoSIDA Academic All-Americans --  Volleyball’s Katie McCaffrey, Softball’s Alison Wright, Baseball’s Matt Schuld, Men's Track and Field's Phil Bastron, and Women's Track/CC's Katie Theisen and Nikki Arola. UST has received this coveted Academic All-American honor 62 times, including 44 honorees from 12 different sports in the last 11 years.

--Katie Theisen was named the female MIAC Student-Athlete of the Year by College Sporting News and will represent the MIAC in the NCAA Woman of the Year competition. Theisen and McCaffrey received NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.

--St. Thomas had 29 student-athletes honored as All-Americans in their respective sports, including 15 underclassmen.

--St. Thomas won NCAA championships in both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays in outdoor track and field -- the Tommies' 55th and 56th individual/relay national titles. Pat Jager became the first Division III male runner to anchor both the 4x100 and 4x400 to NCAA victories in the same competition. UST became the first men’s team from a Minnesota institution to win a track and field relay at nationals.

--The UST track field has had either a men's or women's relay team advance to the Saturday finals at outdoor nationals for 28 consecutive seasons.

--UST also received NCAA runner-up finishes in track and field from Katie Theisen (steeplechase) and the women’s distance medley relay indoors; and in swimming and diving with Pete Mullee (200 backstroke).

--Region Athletes of the Year honors went to Brian Sames (indoor track and field) and James Ewer (Outdoor Track and field).

Conference highlights

--For the 10th year in a row, St. Thomas collected more MIAC team championships than its conference peers. The Tommies won of nine of 22 regular-season championships and claimed three of 11 playoff titles in 2008-09. UST swept the MIAC regular-season and playoff titles in volleyball and men’s basketball.

--The MIAC single-season record for regular-season team championships is 12 set by St. Thomas in 1990-91. (The Toms also won 11 in 1991-92, 1999-2000 and 2007-08).

--St. Thomas has impressive current title streaks in six sports -– it has won all 25 indoor track championships contested; seven consecutive MIAC baseball titles; four consecutive MIAC men's basketball titles; 10 consecutive MIAC indoor and five MIAC outdoor titles in a row in women’s track and field; and three women’s cross country titles in a row. UST has won six of the last seven conference softball titles, and won five of the last seven MIAC volleyball crowns.

--The nine MIAC titles won in 2008-09 include UST’s third consecutive “triple-crown” sweep in women's cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. That triple crown has only accomplished six times in MIAC women's history (all by St. Thomas). Coach Joe Sweeney now has won a remarkable 63 of a possible 81 conference championships in those three sports -- the most women's titles of any current NCAA Division III coach.

--St. Thomas also had top-three conference team finishes in 18 of 22 sports. MIAC runner-up finishes were posted in men's and women's hockey, football, softball and women’s golf. Third-place finishes came in men’s and women’s swimming, women’s basketball and men’s cross country. Playoff runner-up placings were recorded in women's hockey and baseball.

--UST was the lone conference institution to qualify for MIAC playoffs in all 11 sports this school year (volleyball, softball, baseball plus men’s and women’s soccer, hockey, tennis and basketball).

--UST has won a conference-best 366 all-time MIAC team championships (334 regular-season, 32 playoff). Gustavus is second with 239. In women's regular-season titles, St. Thomas has now won a conference-best 113. Gustavus has won the next most with 56.

--In the last eight years alone, St. Thomas has won 74 MIAC regular-season championships and has qualified for MIAC postseason playoffs a conference-best 63 of a possible 71 times.

--In the 2008-09 MIAC all-sport competition, St. Thomas swept both the men's and women's crowns for the 14th time in the 24 years the format has been in place. UST topped Gustavus by 10 points on the women's side and beat St. Olaf on the men's side by 12.5 points. It's the first time a school swept the men and women by double-digit margins since the 1990-91 Tommies accomplished the feat.

--The UST women have won 18 of the 24 MIAC all-sport competitions held. On the men's side, the Tommies have placed first or second overall 34 of the past 37 seasons. The Tommies won or shared both men's and women's titles 11 consecutive years from 1985-96 and again in 1998 before doing it the last two school years.

--St. Thomas won regional Coach of the Year honors three times -- Steve Mathre in men's indoor and outdoor track and Dennis Denning in baseball. Plus, Tim Springfield was named national Assistant Coach of the Year in men’s track and field.

--The Tommies also received MIAC Coach of the Year honors in five sports -– Sheila McGill was honored in women’s soccer; in swimming, Tom Hodgson received the men's honor and Mark Dusbabek was co-Diving Coach of the Year; Thanh Pham was honored in volleyball; Steve Fritz was honored in men's basketball; and Steve Mathre was recognized in outdoor track.

--MIAC Player of the Year honors went to senior Jackie Carroll in women’s hockey and four juniors – Laura Heck in women’s golf; Joe Scott in men’s basketball; Erin Sprangers in women’s soccer; and Marta Radcliffe in softball (Pitcher of the Year). Special awards for top performances at the MIAC track and field meets went to Joe DeFrance indoors and outdoors; the men's 4x400 relay team of Phil Bastron, Joe DeFrance, Pat Jager, and James Ewer outdoors; Nikki Arola for outdoor women's track and field.

--St. Thomas is the lone institution to qualify for all 16 MIAC baseball and softball playoffs since their creation in 2000. The Tommies have won 13 of those 16 championships to date, including all six held in softball. The Tommies have made the NCAA softball playoffs in 12 of the last 13 seasons with four trips to the College World Series and are 285-19 combined in MIAC play in the last 12 seasons  UST has made the NCAA baseball playoffs 14 of the last 15 seasons with four berths in the College World Series.

--In their combined 24 seasons at St. Thomas, Dennis Denning (baseball) and John Tschida (softball) have won 18 of a possible 24 MIAC team championships, with five seconds and one third place. The two rank first in Division III winning percentage in their respective sports. Denning is 522-157 (.768) in 15 seasons, and Tschida is 573-98 (.854) in 15 seasons, including a 366-53 mark in nine years at St. Thomas.

--Men’s basketball’s 30-1 record set a conference standard for best winning percentage (.968) in one season (minimum 20 games).

St. Thomas' All-Time Directors' Cup Scoring
Year/Place/Points

1996/14th of 402 (388.5 points)
1997/18th of 402 (340.5)
1998/tie 25th of 402 (200)
1999/16th of 387 (240)
2000/4th of 393 (586)

2001/25th of 395 (353.5)
2002/13th of 400 (446.5)
2003/35th of 424 (301)
2004/40th of 424 (296)
2005/24th of 424 (356)

2006/28th of 424 (398)
2007/28th of 424 (431.25)
2008/12th of 424 (592.75)

2009/13th of 424 (702)